This year’s Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) Chemistry Camp was the fifth annual hands-on chemistry lab hosted by the UO Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Organized and lead by grad students Lisa Eytel (Chemistry) and Dana Reuter (Geological Sciences), the camp offered hands-on chemistry lab experience for students from local high schools. Eytel and Reuter are outreach co-chairs for the UO chapter of Women in Graduate Sciences, which has provided leadership for the SAIL Chemistry camp since it got its start in 2014.

From July 23-27, student participants in this year’s forensics-themed camp got to use laboratory skills to tackle a “crime” and identify the culprit in a murder-mystery scenario.

A special appearance by UO President Michael Schill started the week off with a bang (literally!) and then SAIL campers got down to work. From Tuesday through Thursday they collected evidence from the crime scene and analyzed fingerprints, blood drops, fiber and an unidentified powder. On Friday, they presented their evidence and brought the culprits to justice. Check out the photos and videos on our SAIL Chemistry website!

SAIL campers employ a variety of methods and materials to clarify a water sample during the Water Filtration Challenge.

From July 25-29, 2016, the UO Chemistry and Biochemistry department hosted its third annual hands-on chemistry lab experience for twenty local high school students. The students are participants in the Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL).SAIL is a University of Oregon program led by volunteer faculty and aimed at increasing students’ enrollment and success in college. SAIL invites eligible 8th through 12th grade students to attend free, annual academic summer camps until they graduate from high school.

This year’s SAIL Chemistry Camp was organized by chemistry grad students Lisa Eytel and Erik Hadland along with biology graduate student Kate Walsh. The campers, all rising freshman in high school, put on their goggles and analyzed water samples, created filters, tested the pH of of common household chemicals, designed batteries, and toured some university laboratories. Be sure to check out our photos!

For the second summer in a row, UO Chemistry hosted a hands-on chem lab experience for local high school students participating in the university’s Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) program.

The UO SAIL Chemistry Camp, organized by chemistry grad students Kara Nell and Blake Tresca, ran from July 27th-31st. The campers, all soon-to-be high school freshman, put on their goggles and analyzed water samples, created filters, tested the pH of of common household chemicals, and designed batteries using metal sulfate solutions. Be sure to check out our photos!

The Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) is a University of Oregon program led by volunteer faculty and aimed at increasing students’ enrollment and success in college. SAIL invites eligible 8th through 12th grade students to attend free, annual academic summer camps until they graduate from high school.

Thanks to the efforts of grad student organizers Kara Nell and Blake Tresca, UO Chemistry and Biochemistry welcomed participants in the UO Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) program to its first-ever Chemistry camp last week.

Students conduct an ink analysis experiment in the laboratory during the Chemistry SAIL camp.

A group of seventeen students from area high schools got hands-on experience each day in the laboratory, conducting experiments such as ink analysis, making their own bio-diesel, and synthesizing pigments. In addition, the campers participated in a variety of activities designed to inspire and prepare them for their college careers.